


A Seed Sprouted

by ziparumpazoo



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-25
Updated: 2012-09-25
Packaged: 2017-11-15 01:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/521523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziparumpazoo/pseuds/ziparumpazoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>If Kara didn't have the scars to prove it, she'd question her part in creating this magnificent little creature currently sprawled bonelessly across her lap.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Seed Sprouted

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Garden Planted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/482709) by [ziparumpazoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziparumpazoo/pseuds/ziparumpazoo). 



> Timestamp fill for [mrspollifax](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspollifax) \- [A Garden Planted](http://archiveofourown.org/works/482709), five years later.

Her daughter is five years old, full of big words and even bigger ideas about how the world should work. If Kara didn't have the scars to prove it, she'd question her part in creating this magnificent little creature currently sprawled bonelessly across her lap.

"You want me to stick her in Hera's bed?" Karl offers as he drops down next to Kara on the grass. He wraps one of his big hands around the girl's ankle, but she doesn't stir. She's truly temporarily dead to the world in that way only young children and puppies are capable of sleeping.

Kara reaches around her and steals the glass from Karl's other hand and gives it a sniff; it's a far cry from the Chief's engine cleaner brew. They've been here long enough to figure out which plants and berries will ferment into something reasonably palatable, and which ones will make you go blind. This batch, in particular, is a little bit of both and judging by Karl's flushed cheeks, she's doing him a favor by liberating his glass.

"Don't want you to drop her, birthday boy," she tells him after a sip. "Besides, she's still mad at you."

Karl rolls his eyes and laughs. "The Sprout's mad because she got caught trying to run away from home. I just happened to be the one who turned her in."

"Well don't take it personally. She's mad at me too." Kara combs her fingers through her daughter's closely chopped hair, smoothing the sleep-sweaty strands away from her face and tucking them behind her ears.

"For the haircut?" Karl leans back and props himself on his elbows so he can watch the crowd of friends and extended family coming and going.

"For laughing when I caught her with a head full of tree sap. And then making her sit still so I could cut it out." She takes another sip and hands him back his now-empty glass. "Gods Karl, I turned my back for three seconds, I swear that's all it was, and she was gone." She means it to come out sounding lightly beleaguered, but her heart still races when she thinks about how easily her daughter had slipped away when she wasn't looking. Kara runs her hands down her girl's arm, smoothes her fingers through her hair again until her hand doesn't feel quite as shaky.

"And so you're going to sit over here and miss my birthday party because you're afraid to let her out of your sight again." He's teasing and he isn't. Of everybody she knows, Karl would understand. 

She shrugs something non-committal. 

"It's okay, she's safe. These things happen," he says and drops his voice lower. "It doesn't make you a bad mother, Kara. The Sprout thinks she's one of the big kids. Thinks she can do anything and she's got the attitude to back it up." Then he smirks. "Can't imagine where she learned it from."

"Her father?" Kara asks.

"I'll tell him you said that." 

Kara shoves him with the arm not currently pinned down by sleeping child. Still, she's reluctant to accept Karl's offer of a bunk. She's discovering that five is a busy age; so much to see and touch and explore that just sitting still like this with her daughter is a rare treat. She wonders some days how Lee hasn't walked out on them both.

"Sharon made cake," Karl tells her. "You're going to miss it."

"Save me a piece. I'll have to wake her up soon anyhow, or she'll be up at the butt-crack of dawn."

Karl gets to his feet and dusts off his pants. He turns so his back is to the party and says, "She's a good kid, Kara. You're doing something right."

He's right; deep down she knows he is. After all, her daughter is five and she's _thriving_ , impromptu haircuts, near misses, and all.


End file.
